But this wasn't actually a letter from the people of Germany. It was created by Johan Franklin, a Germany native living in California. A couple of days later, Franklin clarified the context of the letter and revealed what happened to him after he posted it.

“Not all Germans think that way,” he wrote. “But from what I hear from friends and family back home, what I read on German news sites and social media, many Germans are just scared shitless that an obvious demagogue and outright liar can gather so many people behind him.”

So, do Germans really think the Trump–Hitler comparisons are fair or even accurate? As the Washington Post reports, “yes and no.”

“Hitler comparisons are far less frequent in German public life than they are elsewhere in Europe, the U.S., or Israel,” Thomas Weber, a German historian, told the Post. He added that for Germans, Hitler is the embodiment of evil that is not simply replicated because of controversial statements or endorsements by the Ku Klux Klan.